Empathy enables change and ignorance hinders it. When you are able to understand the struggles of another group of people regardless of your personal experiences you can facilitate change. However, most people would rather maintain the comfortable illusion that the world is just and fair despite the very real struggles and adversities that others face.
I would argue that ignorance in itself is privilege as minorities have to deal with the ugliness of racial prejudice from the moment they are born.
As Martin Luther King Jr. explains, how are you supposed to ignores the realities of racial injustice “when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see the tears welling up in her little eyes…”
King was truly frustrated with the lack of support from his own community and the argument that the timing for the movement wasn’t right, that they should wait to fight for justice.
This is of course easy to argue when you aren’t deprived of basic human rights with no other basis than the color of your skin.
It is imperative that we abandon our naïveté to make any strides towards equality and fulfill King’s hope “that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities.”
It is only through becoming an allies, acknowledging privilege, fighting the hard fight, and having the uncomfortable conversations that we can move toward becoming an equal and just society.
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